i'm loving the typeface you used for RADICAL PRO. it fits the word "radical" very nicely. great looking stick man! I was interested in using rubberized paint on racquets as well. i bet that thing swings like a club now.

i'm loving the typeface you used for RADICAL PRO. it fits the word "radical" very nicely. great looking stick man! I was interested in using rubberized paint on racquets as well. i bet that thing swings like a club now.

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You guessed it right. It is quite heavy. The rubberized paint didn't work as I expected. It didn't harden as I hoped. If you try it, I'd be interested in knowing your experience.

I think no matter what paint you use, unless you can let it cure under a heat lamp, the paint will not be the same as the original paint job. That red Radical I recently did took so long because after each coat (I did about 6) I literally left the racket under the sun in my backyard for at least a day hoping that will be enough to let the paint cure. It didn't. Although the paint was dry to the touch it still didn't harden. Perhaps those who have experience painting cars can let us in on the secret.

I think no matter what paint you use, unless you can let it cure under a heat lamp, the paint will not be the same as the original paint job. That red Radical I recently did took so long because after each coat (I did about 6) I literally left the racket under the sun in my backyard for at least a day hoping that will be enough to let the paint cure. It didn't. Although the paint was dry to the touch it still didn't harden. Perhaps those who have experience painting cars can let us in on the secret.

Wondering if anyone has tried Duracoat. This is supposed to be a resin instead of paint. It is also used for painting pistols and rifles so it should be durable enough to resist chipping. I plan on ordering a kit from Lauerweaponry . com for my next paint job. They have quite a selection for colors and their kits include everything to get started. The only thing is they are meant to be used on guns so I would probably need more "paint" to do a racket. On the good side, multiple coatings are probably not necessary. If anyone has any experience with Duracoat, please share your experience.

Perhaps those who have experience painting cars can let us in on the secret.

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modern cars are usually painted in "2-pack" aka "plastic" paint

this is a 2-part paint that cures rockhard... its like mixing 5-min epoxy glue,
the tinted/thinned paint when ready is mixed with its matching activator
and then your stopwatch starts - you've gotta get the paint sprayed
or it'll setup rockhard in your gun

cars are painted in a paintbooth to control dust, humidity & temperature.
Many are heated if ambient temperature is too low, warmth also helps
paint to "flow" so you get a pretty smooth finish right off the gun.

however 2-pack is POISONOUS so painters need a full mask with air supply;
hence you won't find much non-pro painters getting access to 2-pack

olden days cars were painted with lacquer, this just "dries" when its solvent
evaporates leaving behind the solid (=filler+tint) material. Good old lacquers
aren't sold these days due to VOC restrictions; modern acrylic lacquers
are waterbased and imho just don't work as well... eg stay soft, craters etc

what hasn't been mentioned is Powder Coating

this is a plasticky paint in solid powder form; your item is statically charged
and the paint is charged with the opposite so its sprinkled on & sticks to it.
Then its baked in oven where the powder melts together to a solid surface.

Powder coating is used on motorcycle frames, machinery etc.
It sticks pretty well to most surfaces (that can survive the heat)
and is very hardwearing & resistant to abrasion.

I have a question about the selection and application of clear lacquers. I'm not doing a re-paint project, I would just like to try applying a clear coat right over the top of my stock Donnay Pro One frames. The placement of the metal foil lettering on the outside of the hoop at 3:00 and 9:00 makes them somewhat prone to chipping. I'm also picturing in my minds eye that adding glossy finish overall might be a nice touch to the very minimalist design and the existing semi matte black paint.

I've gone to a hobby store and picked up a selection of five slightly different products. If anybody has any experience with these lacquers, reccos for something that would work better, or any tips all about the process, I'd really appreciate it.

I've been reading all of the threads which cover giving a racket a paint job and I have to say I'm still quite a bit confused about some things. Over the course of all the threads on TT, has some kind of conclusion been reached on which are the best materials to use? There has been discussion of different kinds of paints etc, different times to leave them for. Couple of questions:

I am attempting to customise my graphene speed pro with some funky colours (green and purple probably) and not simply with stripes so, ideally, some kind of fading into each other kind of pattern (if you see what I mean). This is the racket I use so I'm assuming you guys would defnitely recommend me doing a rubbish racket first to practice?

I would like to know if possible if someone could maybe provide me a list of the materials I should use and some general advice in light of the following:

- The fact that I want to use colours such as purple and green
- Taking into account mistakes and successes of people in the other threads

ChiJack, if your newly glossy Pro Ones show up as such in a photo, I'll hope you'll post one.

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Hi Dont let it Bounce -

It's finally warm enough here to start testing the various clear lacquers. I'm going to be testing on some of my beat up frames first. I'm also custom drilling my P1 grommets which will create a slightly lower sw. I promise to post a pic or two for ya.

Hello I started my custom paintjob today. I used a cheap racket that I found in my garage, went to home depot and got some supplies. I first used stripper to strip the paint and then brushed it off with a paper towel. It came out great. I can't wait to post some pics. Anyways, could some of you please give me some tips for putting some really nice text on the racket so it looks professional.

Here are my first attempts. The first one was a cheap Head that it has some flaws and the second (black one) is a Kobra tour whick i think is great. i'm currently waiting for decalls and then i'm going to apply the clear coat.

Some highly interesting commentary on the effects of racquet paint from legendary racquet technician Roman Prokes:

[..]

Quote:

JD: I’ve heard from a number of players that certain types of paint can change how a racquet feels. Your thoughts?

RP: It really could be. What happens is, let’s say that you have a player who plays with a matte-finish frame. Very rarely will they be able to switch to a glossy paint, because it completely changes the feel. Take identical racquets and repaint one: It will never play the same. I’ve been doing this for 30 years, and from day one, every player will know and will not be able to switch. The matte and the glossy each makes a tremendous difference—even to the point that you and I will feel it, blindfolded—let alone these guys.

JD: Why do you think that is?

RP: Different layers of paint. Different vibrations. It changes the shock, changes the sound, changes everything. The matte finish, for the most part, has more of a feel to it, more touch. With the glossy, it feels a little bit harder.

JD: And what’s the finish on Roddick’s racquet?

RP: He has the shiny finish. That’s what he’s used to. The Pure Drive was always the glossy.

Well shucks, this has me second guessing my idea to experiment with adding a glossy lacquer to my Pro Ones. I really like the muted feel of them as they are, and hadn't even considered the concept that paint might change the feel. Come to think of it, another old favorite of mine, the Volkl T10 Gen I has a matte finish too.

Guys sorry to be a pain but I'm really trying to get some verdicts from this thread.....

Has a verdict been reached about the best paints?
Has a verdict been reached about the absolutely correct process to follow? (it seems as though there are differences in the methods of the people on the thread who have been doing it)

I'm really keen to start as soon as possible and I want the job to be as professional as possible.

Can someone please let me know which 'ingredients' I should buy? I have the funds now to start buying the stuff but I don't want to buy the wrong things!!

I'm looking to probably paint the racket a mixture of purple and green, preferably fading into one another. (its a graphene speed pro but I will be testing it out on a rubbish frame first)

currently working on my own custom pj but quick question to those out there that have used a spray paint is 4 oz enough paint? or do I need to buy a bigger size? I will be using House of Kolor auto paint after I prime with transtar auto primer.

In what way would you place the racquet when drying the primer/paint? Suspend it by the handle? Let it hang off a table? Set it on top of something?

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I put end of racket handle between mattress and mattress box.
I did it, when my wife was out haha.
After two hours, you can just put it anywhere to cure the paint for a full day or half day then second and third coats later.

I put end of racket handle between mattress and mattress box. I did it, when my wife was out haha. After two hours, you can just put it anywhere to cure the paint for a full day or half day then second and third coats later.

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Hi greystar, kimguroo

I made myself a spraying and curing station with some old plywood, a metal flange, and some PVC tubing. I wheel it into the daylight in the mornings, do a coat before work, and then back into the garage to dry during the day. I can do three racquets at a time. Just stuffed newspaper into the PVC to get the frames to the right depth. Easy to turn and rotate the frames to get the right spraying angle. Pretty simple construction. I don't have any racquets to show yet, just testing out application methods and various clear lacquers on some of my old frames from the basement right now.

I made myself a spraying and curing station with some old plywood, a metal flange, and some PVC tubing. I wheel it into the daylight in the mornings, do a coat before work, and then back into the garage to dry during the day. I can do three racquets at a time. Just stuffed newspaper into the PVC to get the frames to the right depth. Easy to turn and rotate the frames to get the right spraying angle. Pretty simple construction. I don't have any racquets to show yet, just testing out application methods and various clear lacquers on some of my old frames from the basement right now.

Would you guys reccommend using rustoleum paint and primer in one, or using a primer can and then a paint can

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be careful, these days "Rustoleum" is a brandname with
many different types of paint not just the 1 like back in early days.
And they specialise in coatings over metal.

Best to use separate primer & colour, then clear coat.

Different primers are available including "high build" or "less sanding".
Metal primers can have acids to etch for better adhesion.

Earlier i did buy a Rustoleum all-in-one no primer rattle can in black.
Not impressed... it took forever for 1st coat to dry (overnight!)
and it was very thin, not as opaque as I expected.

But this was for car roof rack not plastic/composite.
Otoh afaik (wasn't my car) its still holding up after 6mths
parked outside, I didn't do much prep apart from
wirebrushing off flaking old paint and degreasing
so it's pretty impressive.

Looking for some advice. I have applied stripping gel to my microgel radical midplus. The paint and primer are coming off easily enough in the throat area, but are much more stubborn from 4 and 8 upwards on the hoop, where it appears to only have removed the gloss coating after two separate applications of stripping.

How should I proceed from here? I only want to repaint it all black and have both black primer and black spraypaint. If you would like pictures of my progress to help guide me further I will take them. Appreciate anyone's help!

things i would have done differently
1)wetsand before clear coat trying to wetsand after the cc ended up with some spots that needed to be buffed out heavily.
2)don't apply waterslide decals near grommets they turned out bad when i tried to punch thru them
3) do some of the painting with a set of old grommets installed when i pushed some of the grommets into the holes some of the paint that rolled over into the holes chipped.

fyi: i chemical stripped then scrubbed/sanded and the paint i used was house of kolor automotive paint

ChiJack, if your newly glossy Pro Ones show up as such in a photo, I'll hope you'll post one.

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Hi Dont Let it Bounce -

Request granted. I applied two coats of clear lacquer to my 6 new frames. The P1 has a matte finish, and the silver decals are very prone to chipping. Thought I would gloss em up a bit and put something on to help prevent the chipping that always happens at 3 and 9 in the hoop. Now comes the fun part, matching em all up, leather grips, lead etc.